The Train – Phyllis

We’ve done planes, a car, a ferry and bikes. It was time for a train.

The train takes about the same amount of time to get to Wellington as driving. In fact, we often saw the same transport truck at several points where the highway and rail line ran side by side. Flying would have been faster, but this route is touted as worthy due to its scenic route and the civility of traveling by rail. Not surprisingly, therefore, it was completely full.

The first striking aspect was that the train was slow. Our only recent experiences were on European high-speed trains, or the commuter route down Italy’s Adriatic coast. This one had only three passenger cars, a luggage car, a small café car and an open-air observation car. Oh, and a smelly diesel engine.

Every passenger was equipped with a set of headphones with a commentary on the area we were passing through. Ken’s system was malfunctioning and I kept falling asleep listening to the recitation of facts and local lore. So, we gave up on that amenity.

Highlights

Auckland is much bigger than we thought. By 2050 it is projected to be home to 2 million people. The country now has a population of about 5.3 million. The suburbs wrap around its large harbour and extend back into the hills. Along our route we saw some stunning ocean facing, cliff side houses.

We also passed through the industrial areas, more modest housing and a fair bit of scrub land that may not have been dry or solid enough for building purposes.

Just outside the city we passed farm lots sectioned off with hedges or fences. They were often small areas running perpendicular to the rail line, somewhat reminiscent of the long thin farm sections around Quebec rivers. It looked like cattle or sheep were contained in one area until they had grazed an are out and then there were moved to the next lot. The density of animals is higher in NZ than in Alberta, perhaps because the vegetation is more robust.

I also have learned that NZ now has fewer sheep and more cattle due to trade changes after Britain joined the EU and the market for wool shrank.

Further south we saw larger farms, stretches of unused land, many small towns, and eventually we started to climb into a more mountainous area. We passed over gorges and rivers before a long descent into Wellington and its suburbs.

We passed thorough several tunnels and through cuts in hillsides that may as well have been tunnels. Across one flat section, there is a mountain, still an active volcano that is a sharp contrast to the surrounding plain.

The open-air viewing car was quite a treat. It was noisy, smelly due to the diesel engine, deafening when passing through a tunnel and crowded whenever the conductor announced that we were approaching a particularly worthy sight. Early in the day it was chilly to be out there for long, but later I spent a good half hour just watching the passing greenery through my hair whipping around in the wind.